Hillsboro Hops Fund

Hillsboro Hops Fund at the Hillsboro Community Foundation

"The purpose of the Hillsboro Hops Fund is to develop and establish a community benefits program, the purpose of which is to promote, foster and support education, health, culture and youth activities including activities for underprivileged youth, in the greater Hillsboro area."

The Hillsboro Hops Fund is a philanthropic initiative established by Hops' team owners Mike and Laura McMurray in 2013, when the franchise moved to Hillsboro. The fund aims to re-instill a love of baseball within the youth of Washington County and the entire Portland-metro area through the funding of projects like refurbishing baseball fields, supplying baseball equipment for low-income families, covering entrance fees into tournaments for local youth baseball teams, and many many more.

Youth participation in baseball has waned in recent years, as rising costs of baseball equipment and travel teams exclude some children from being able to participate in baseball. As a professional baseball team, we believe that our game should be a carefree, cost-effective endeavor afforded to everybody. Unfortunately, over the past decade, some children and youth in our community have found themselves on the outside looking in.

That's where we come in. Our fund was established to level the playing field financially. No child should be unable to play the game simply because the equipment is too expensive. No team should be unable to play a game because the playing surface is subpar. All of the money raised by this fund is directly infused back into the community to support children who simply want to play baseball, but lack the support to do so.

The Hops will be funding several projects over the coming years to make sure our game grows in our community.

The Hops live and breathe baseball. In order to ensure the success and growth of our game, it is vital we invest in the youth of our community so that they stick with baseball and softball. This fund is a small step towards the accomplishment of that goal.

Ultimately, if kids aren't playing baseball, or if kids are giving up baseball as they grow up, less players will continue playing in high school, further into college, and even less will continue to sign major league contracts and be sent to teams like the Hops. If we don't provide the youth with the tools they need to succeed, both on the field and off, we are doing them and ourselves a disservice.

We're a developmental team. We develop big leaguers. But the development doesn't begin when they walk onto Ron Tonkin Field. It starts long before that on the fields all over Oregon.

Donations to the Hops Fund are tax deductible. Checks made out to the "Hillsboro Community Foundation" (MEMO "Hillsboro Hops Fund") can be delivered to our ballpark office or mailed to: